University of Louisville
Marquette
Volleyball Grounds Marquette Eagles
September 24, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 24, 2006
Jana Matiasovska had 14 kills and an ace to lead the University of Louisville to a 30-21, 21-30, 30-25, 31-29 win over Marquette in BIG EAST volleyball action in a live match televised nationally by ESPNU.
U of L is now 8-5 and 2-0 in BIG EAST action. Marquette, playing before a record crowd of 1076 for the Al McGuire Center, is now 5-8 and 1-1 in the league.
U of L, playing without middle blocker Rui Liu, who was injured in practice Saturday night, still out-blocked their opponent 13-4. The Cardinals have not been outblocked all season. Hitting .322 to their opponents .201, U of L notched nine service aces.
"They definitely had a home court advantage tonight, with a big, enthusiastic crowd," said U of L head coach Leonid Yelin. "I was happy we managed to push through for the win despite some lapses.
In the first game, U of L ran out to a 18-12 lead but the Eagles had a 6-2 run to come within two and force a Cardinal timeout. The Eagles pressed the Cardinals, coming within two at 20-18. U of L took their offense up a notch and ran off six straight. U of L got to game point on a tip by setter Samantha Dabbs and a kill by Svetlana Dukule tipped the game to the Cardinals 30-21. U of L hit .419 to Marquette's .086. Freshman Lecia Brown led with four kills on four swings and two blocks.
The Eagles regrouped and took a 15-9 lead in the second game which had Yelin calling time out to try to swing momentum back the Cards' way. The Eagles were not swayed as they kept U of L at arms length. At 22-17, Yelin used his last time out but it would do no good, as MU continued to roll. The Cardinals were able to stave off game point to add three of their own, but a missed serve gave the game to Marquette. The Eagles hitting warmed up to .371 as Jamie Mueller notched 10 kills lead MU's offense.
"With so many new people we know we can play well but we will be up and down," said Yelin.
"They know how to play well, they just need to play well all the time. The younger kids take a little more time to adjust on the fly, than our senior oriented team did last year."
Marquette seemed to retain its momentum after the break when it took a 7-2 lead. The Cardinals scrabbled back into the game tuing at 14 on a block by Stephanie Marsh and Lecia Brown. The Cardinals pulled ahead by five at 21-16 on a Tatyana Kolesnikova kill. MU gave U of L a scare when they came within two after a 5-2 run that took them to within two at 27-25. Yelin called timeout and the Cardinals scored the final three points unanswered including two straight aces by freshman Justine Landi to take the third game 30-25. Matiasovska had five kills to lead the Cardinals. U of L's .364 hitting kept them alive as did four blocks.
U of L hit .311 in the final game although they had to hold off a furious comeback by the Eagles. U of L was up 24-19 and Marquette came back to tie at 28 on two straight kills by Kimberly Todd. The Teams tied at 29 before Kolesnikova scored two of the final three points for the win.
Todd notched 27 kills for Marquette. Svetlana Dukule added 10 kills and Dabbs was good for seven kils and seven blocks.
